Waterkeeper Alliance Responds to the Congressional Spending Bill’s Extension of Polluter Loopholes for Industrial Animal Agriculture

Daniel E. Estrin, General Counsel and Advocacy Director of Waterkeeper Alliance, released the following statement:

The omnibus spending bill recently signed by President Biden unfortunately continues to include significant giveaways to Big Ag that will hamstring the federal government’s ability to regulate a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollutants. A 2021 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that reduced air quality from the agriculture industry results in nearly 18,000 deaths annually in the United states.

It is outrageous that the animal agriculture industry continues to enjoy a free pass to pollute and make people sick. This rider will allow concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, to continue emitting enormous plumes of noxious air pollutants, devastating ecosystems and vulnerable communities. These corporations should not receive special treatment as they continue to recklessly accelerate the climate crisis and poison people. If we are serious about addressing climate change, we must allow EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from CAFOs.